COALMONT, Tenn. – Much like last year’s season-ending game between these two football programs, Notre Dame’s Irish were just too much for Grundy County as they took 41-0 District 7-AA win Friday night.
The Irish are locked into second place in the district and likely will host an opening-round game next week. Grundy will await this morning’s TSSAA seedings to see if they drew a wild-card spot.
“It was a hard-fought game,” Notre Dame coach Charles Fant said. “We knew they were going to put a lot of pressure on us. They kept trying to blitz from the outside, but Auston Banks did a wonderful job running the ball. Our play-action pass game worked really well. Our fullbacks had two touchdowns catching the ball out of the backfield. When we can do those things, it’s pretty big.”
Banks ran 12 times for 191 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Alex Darras had a big night as well, completing five of 16 passes for 105 yards and two scores.
Notre Dame scored once in the first quarter on a 3-yard Banks run. Darras threw his two touchdown passes in the second quarter and kicked all four extra points. The Irish also got a Jared Andrews 36-yard interception return, and they led 28-0 at the break.